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The Kammerlader, or "chamber loader", was the first Norwegian breech-loading rifle, and among the first breech loaders adopted for use by an armed force anywhere in the world. A single-shot black-powder rifle, the kammerlader was operated with a crank mounted on the side of the receiver. This made it much quicker and easier to load than the ...
Armstrong screw-breech guns were initially adopted by the British Army and Royal Navy, but concerns about limited armour penetration of the shells due to limited maximum velocity, safety concerns with the breech blocks blowing out of guns, and higher skill levels demanded of gunners led the British Government to revert to rifled muzzle-loaders ...
The new technology involved required higher standards of gun maintenance and gunner training than the British army was prepared to provide and as a result the gun had a reputation in service for unreliability. In 1871 Britain reverted to muzzle-loading guns, such as the RML 9 pounder 8 cwt, which were cheaper and fired much cheaper ammunition.
In 1842, the Norwegian Armed Forces adopted the breech-loading caplock, the Kammerlader, one of the first instances in which a modern army widely adopted a breech-loading rifle as its main infantry firearm. The Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr (Dreyse needle gun) was a single-shot breech-loading rifle using a rotating bolt to seal the breech
In the United States, the Springfield Model 1873 was the first single-shot breech-loading rifle adopted by the United States War Department for manufacture and widespread issue to U.S. troops. The development of Poudre B smokeless powder in 1884, introduced with the French Lebel Model 1886 rifle , spelt the end of gunpowder warfare and led to a ...
The 3.2-inch gun M1897 (81 mm), with its predecessors the M1885 and M1890, was the U.S. Army's first steel, rifled, breech loading field gun.It was the Army's primary field artillery piece in the Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War, and Boxer Rebellion from 1898 to 1902.
From 1880 a small number of 35 cwt guns had their trunnion rings rotated to the left to allow the vent-piece to open horizontally to the right, being known as "side-closing" guns. [7] They differed from the wedge guns in that the vent piece was still locked in place by tightening the screw behind it.
The shorter weapon was easier to load and more practical in skirmish combat. However, there was some loss of accuracy, and the shorter barrel used the powder charges less efficiently. Jäger rifles typically had a length around 45 inches (1,100 mm), with a 30-inch (760 mm) barrel, and weighed around 9 lb (4.1 kg). Frequently there was a ...